Random Moments in Life

This morning I was really torn when I woke up. I could go to Miguel Pro, use the internet, have a slow start to the morning, and then show up at school with enough time to plan and get ready for next week. Or I could go into the center and be there for what was explained to me as vaguely some ¨thing¨going on in the offices o the bishop. All I knew was that some of the kids from school were going, I was asked if I could help, and there was somehow some vocational fair involved.

Well, the vocacational fair almost scared me off - I am often enough here mistaken for a brother or a priest and so did really not feel the need to be recruited to be one - but my sense of responsibility and generally just being more involved in life at the school convinced me to go. It ended up being a great decision because when I arrived, I ran into our of our students who had come from school by themselves to participate in a contest on the ten commandments and other catheticism (spelling?) related subjects. Actually, it was like a city wide test that also had an oral part and some pretty sweet prizes attached to it.

Anyway, these students had no idea what was going on either and I realized that I might be in over my head or might have to take more control/responsibility than I had previously assumed. As they were called up to sign in and register, I went up with them and was berated (the woman did it kindly, but it was still a beratement) for the students not having their official documents and not having an officio saying I was in charge of them and was over seeing them. While, it was news to me that I was overseeing them and I sure as hell had no clue what was suppossed to go down, but with a little questioning and playing dumb, I was able to convince (well, she probably just took pity on me and the students) the woman to let me write out a permission slip of sorts. Well, the Peruvians love their formality and their beauracracy, so I felt pretty small when I returned with a hand written, two line thing claiming I was in charge and had been put in this place by the director of the school. All of the other papers I saw came fully decked out with official stamps, stationery of the schools, were all a page long, included the numbers and important data on the participants and the overseer, and just generally were very official. I had to laugh to myself.

In the end it all worked out and the students were able to enter, but it pretty much is par for the course down here and as soon as it happened I immediately felt like sharing. And then I got off the bus early on the way to school in order to chat it up with these incredibly nice ladies (who were the cooks for the big retreat last year and sell little sandwiches and gelatin outside this fairly large market), who kept trying to stuff me with free shredded chicken or tunafish sandwiches.

I arrived at school about ten minutes before class - not quite what I had imagined when I woke up. But I was in good spirits and had a successul and happy day. When it comes down to it, what more can you ask out of life?